If you read a story (or see a film) and then somebody says, “Did you know that was based on Hamlet?” then what you’ll do is run it back over in your brain and spot all the spots where it wasn’t. Take for example Lion King, which I saw without even considering a Hamlet connection. Where’s the Ophelia character? Polonius? The relationship between Gertrude and Claudius? Some of them are stretched – are Timon and Poomba *really* supposed to be Rosencrantz and Guildenstern? Or is this a case where they said “Uncle kills father, son avenges” and then just made up the rest?
However – what if somebody tells you to read story X, because it’s based on Hamlet. Then you’ve got a whole different ball game. Such is the case with The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. This is not my review of that book, which will come when I finish it. Think of this as the intro material that would have padded my review when I finally did get around to it.
If you know you’re reading a Hamlet story, then every plot device, every new character, you find yourself saying “Who is that supposed to be? What’s happening here?” A grandfather? There’s no grandfather in Hamlet, he must not be relevant. Oh look a random hippie chick? That’s weird. Wonder if she’ll be Ophelia. It’s like a mystery story. When the dad dies – because we all know the dad dies, I hope – you get to sit there and wonder “How did he die? Did the brother do it? Will we learn that the brother did it? What’s the wife’s relationship to the brother?”
Hamlet shows us the dynamics of just about every family relationship – husbands and wives, fathers and sons, fathers and daughters, mothers and sons, brothers (Claudius and King Hamlet), sisters (Laertes and Ophelia). It would be difficult to tell a family drama/tragedy and not be able to say “Oh, yeah, a little bit like Hamlet.” Rivalry between brothers? A son with an absent father figure and mother issues? Family members who don’t want the daughter to go with the man she chooses? All there.
We already know that this is done ad nauseam with Romeo and Juliet – every “they can’t be together, oh the tragedy!” love story ever written has made the comparison.
But are there others? Does anybody ever write an Othello story, or a Macbeth story?

Not quite sure what to do with this story [first spotted on Reddit.com] about Zombie Hamlet. At first I thought, “Ok, big deal, somebody’s ripping off Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Undead,” which has been around for over 2 years and I think pretty much started the “zombie Shakespeare” thing.
But then I checked out the IMDB page for kicks. Jason Mewes, the stoner guy from all those Kevin Smith movies? Shelley Long from Cheers? John Amos, the dad from Good Times? June Lockhart, the Lost In Space mom? Does the Zombie part refer to the plot, or the cast? I thought a few of those people were dead!
Then I checked out the director’s page. From the man who brought you Santa With Muscles, ranked in IMDB’s 100 Worst Movies Of All Time comes….Zombie Hamlet. Yeah, that fits.

A long, long time ago I discovered David Gilmour, of Pink Floyd, singing Sonnet 18. It was my first experience with Shakespeare-to-music, and it just happened to be one of my favorite bands. Well, the solo guy from that band, but still. At the time I used the expression, “Excuse me while my head explodes, in the good way.”
(Later, someone from Google quoted me on that one when Google Books announced their Shakespeare project.)
And there was the German rock opera Hamlet In Space, which was so good that I had songs from their sampler in my regular playlist (I’ve long since lost them, alas).
So I’m quite excited to see Hamlet : A Rock Experience, which puts Hamlet to the music of Pink Floyd’s The Wall:

A prince descends into madness, haunted by the ghost of his murdered father, hatred for the uncle who usurped him and resentment toward a mother he feels has betrayed him.

A troubled rock star, oppressed by an overprotective mother, abusive teachers and the superficiality of stardom, imprisons his inner rage behind a mental wall, each brick closing him off from the rest of the world.

I would kill to see that. Hamlet and The Wall could be the new Dark Side / Wizard of Oz.

The Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles will determine at the end of this month whether Hamlet was mentally competent at the time he murdered Polonius.
I’ve never seen one of these up close, but they’ve been done before. I’d like to see a transcript, if nothing else:
Defense Attorney : Mr. Hamlet, should you have been in your mother’s bedchamber in the first place?
Hamlet : No.
DA : And why not?
Hamlet : The ghost told me not to.
DA : Defense rests.

In another thread, JM wrote “I’d have to “somewhat” disagree, Charlene, since I believe Hamlet to BE Shakespeare. But that’s another topic altogether. 🙂 “
Continue. 🙂